I bought the pattern shortly after it came out and then set it aside. When we were having some remodeling done in 2013 and I was relegated to the upstairs, I decided to unearth the pattern and fabric I’d picked out earlier and started to sew. I made the signature block first (next time I’ll make it last), and worked on the baskets every single day while the crew was downstairs sawing, pounding and painting. It kept me sane. I’d been doing needle turn appliqué for a long time, but this is the first project that I made using laminated templates and vinyl overlays. I loved it!
I worked on Fresh Picked Posies long after the remodeling was done, in-between other projects and it was my pick up and go retreat project, which was great because I didn’t have to pack a sewing machine. I finally finished the top, had it quilted and showed the quilt last spring in the Quilter’s Anonymous quilt show in Seattle. That show got me connected with the Garden of Quilts people in Lehi UT, who invited me to teach. I taught… and Fresh Picked Posies, along with 3 of my other quilts, was hung in the Garden of Quilts show at Ashton Botanical Gardens.
Sue Lynch wrote to say “Love your designs so I will share my wonderful whimsical garden with you!” Thank you, Sue, for sharing your lovely quilt. The brown backgrounds always remind me of chocolate and who doesn’t love chocolate!
I machine quilted together two vintage tops to make one quilt. The trip around the world side (below) is very nice. The pattern is easy to read… it’s happy!
The quilt top I put on the back has alternating 3″ squares and 9-patches made from 1″ squares. There isn’t an underlying theme or color palette on this side. It is mostly prints, plaids, and stripes that are individually wonderful, but together are a hot mess. Your eyes have nothing to focus on.
Look at the two, together…
Your eye can rest and explore the trip around the world. There isn’t any resting when you look at the 9-patches. And more to the point, there isn’t any real pattern.
Generally speaking, when we go to the effort to cut fabric apart and sew it back together, we do so for a reason. I wonder if the maker of the 9-patch just wanted to sew and had no other plan… because that’s what it looks like. And I absolutely understand that because I have done that myself with equally questionable results 🤣.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t successfully test the boundary between pattern and chaos. I wrote about the quilt below, Carnival, made by Joan Goetteman and Audree Sells, in this blog post. It was my Judge’s Choice at the Chaska Fall Splendor Quilt Show in 2022.
Yes, there is chaos, but it is not total chaos. There is just enough pattern to keep your eye happily busy. You may not be drawn to this level of visual activity, but I still love this quilt.
If you are interested in making this sort of quilt, go for it! Here are a few tips:
When you find a quilt that embraces this sort of chaos, study it a bit to see what does and does not resonate with you.
Consider how to create some sort of recognizable arrangement/pattern.
Group colors in a way that enhances the plan you have in mind.
Joanne O sent me this photo of her Fresh Picked Posies. I love it!
Joanne says
…this was my first attempt at a full size hand appliquéd quilt…to prepare for this undertaking I watched your U- tube videos on the Piece of Cake Way for hand appliqué . I found the pattern easy to follow & the larger pieces were great for a first go at hand stitching . It was machine quilted on a long arm by my friend Karen C. I am so pleased with how it turned out. …love love love this pattern. Thank you so much.
The Hexie Garden Quilt pattern is made up of hexagonal blocks. Each block is made up of 6 wedges. You don’t want to cut the backgrounds into wedges until the applique is complete because of the bias edges. In the pattern, I tell you to cut a rectangle for each background. I did that for two reasons:
In many of the blocks, I was matching stripes and other lines.
I liked working on that size of background.
Char Kirscht has been working on her Hexie Quilt Garden quilt and she wrote to tell me that she handled her backgrounds in a different way. She cut strips 10″ x width of fabric (40″ or so). Then she drew 60° angles to simulate where where the blocks will be cut apart after they are appliqued. You could use either a 60° ruler or the block template to get the lines.
Please note that some fabrics may not be 40″ wide, especially after washing and drying.
I would still mark the vertical and horizontal centers of each block to match the overlay to during applique. You might be tempted to just use the 60° block outlines but if you do that, be very careful not to let the flowers shift or tilt.
Once the applique is done you can press the strip and cut the blocks apart and follow the remaining cutting directions in the pattern.
If you aren’t matching patterns or stripes in the background fabric, and if you like work on a long, narrow background, this is a good option. If I’d have thought of it, I’d have included it in the book. Thank you, Char, for making this very fine suggestion!
This is Lucy, who celebrated her 88th birthday on August 18 in my class at The Quilt Crossing in Boise. How cool is that!
The class worked on Pick-Up Sticks from The Quilter’s Practical Guide To Color, learning how to make this improv block the easy way. Everyone had a great time, especially Lucy!
Some of Lucy’s Piece O’ Cake applique quilts were hanging in the classroom and it was so much fun to have them there. This is her version of Spectacular Spring from Applique Delights (still available as a downloadable ebook).
And this is Lucy’s version of Thru Grandmother’s Window, our first block of the month. The patterns are available as downloadable ePatterns.
Lucy and I agreed that it’s good to have a goal and we both want to be quilting into our 100s. That’s an excellent goal, don’t you think?!
Piece O Cake Blog 